It's beautiful to see her skate clean, strong, and freely from the jitters of competition. Strong 3Salchow and 2Axel and centered spins and lovely overall skating. Bellissima, Carolina! BRAVA!!

Honestly, I kant imagine why people seem upset by her performances. Clearly she has to work on her programs, but SHE WON A MEDAL. Her 21st in a row.
I mean: had I been one of the other ladies, I would be HUGELY annoyed for the opposite reason. When she competes, there are only two medals available, by definition.

Carolina is a great skater. But I just don't think she's a great competitor.

She's absolutely mesmerizing in some of her galas, like the recent Opera on Ice. The presence, the edges, the confidence, beautiful moves like her spread eagles and back spiral...stunning.

But in competition, she often--but not always--seems like a different skater completely. She just wilted at Cup of China. Maybe it's due to the injury, but her commitment to her movements just didn't seem there. The energy was lacking. It was like and night and day compared to the skater Kostner can be.

However, I don't think a poor GP outing is going to kill her chances of a medal at the Olympics. But even if she misses the GPF, if she can regroup and get it together and skate a clean SP at the Olympics, I have no doubt that the judges will reward her accordingly. Kostner has won more world medals this quad than any other ladies skater. She can survive a poor GP outing if she delivers at the Olympics.

^ I just can't help but see her as a female version of Brian Joubert. Amazing competitive record. Impressive number of medals won and consistency in winning them. But man do they have that Olympic curse upon them.

Carolina is a great skater. But I just don't think she's a great competitor.

She's absolutely mesmerizing in some of her galas, like the recent Opera on Ice. The presence, the edges, the confidence, beautiful moves like her spread eagles and back spiral...stunning.

But in competition, she often--but not always--seems like a different skater completely. She just wilted at Cup of China. Maybe it's due to the injury, but her commitment to her movements just didn't seem there. The energy was lacking. It was like and night and day compared to the skater Kostner can be.

However, I don't think a poor GP outing is going to kill her chances of a medal at the Olympics. But even if she misses the GPF, if she can regroup and get it together and skate a clean SP at the Olympics, I have no doubt that the judges will reward her accordingly. Kostner has won more world medals this quad than any other ladies skater. She can survive a poor GP outing if she delivers at the Olympics.

I believe she and kim are tied for world medals for this quad , both with 3 medals?

Yeah... her poor showing at COC is rather disappointing but I still have high expectations on her; I don't want to conclude anything about her programs at this point neither. I sincerely hope that her injury was minor one and does not cause her any further setback.

Her LP has some moments where I thought, wow, this will get the crowd going.
Her skating skills look so good. I was watching her blade the entire time and I actually dreamed I could move that freely on the ice.

OTOH, the program is decidedly non-Persian. More of a modern dance take on Scheherazade. Which is fine, but not modern or unique enough.

OTOOH, what is up with the final 3Sal in the final moment. Hasn't she learned anything from last World? You don't put a triple in the end of the program when you aren't so consistent. What is wrong with this girl?

OTOOH, what is up with the final 3Sal in the final moment. Hasn't she learned anything from last World? You don't put a triple in the end of the program when you aren't so consistent. What is wrong with this girl?

Nothing is wrong with her. I think it's obvious that she likes to challenge herself. One need only look at her exceedingly difficult and fast, crisp footwork sequences to see that she doesn't take anything easily. She has always taken risks and yes, sometimes it can prove to be a big gamble. When she first burst onto the scene, she was attempting and landing 3Lutz+3toe and 3flip+3toe in competition. Into adulthood, she has attempted and landed 3flip+3toe+2loop, 2Axel+3toe, and 3flip+3toe+3loop in practice. And for the haters who reply to this post by saying she took an easy approach by doing limited jumps in the 2011 and 2012 seasons, it was advised by doctors due to her knee injury that she avoid practicing and attempting 3Lutz and 3flip. She is doing all her jumps now.